Toll-free long distance calling (e.g., using 800 and 888 numbers) has grown in popularity over the last 10 years, and according to recent press reports, comprises as much as 25% of all domestic interstate voice traffic. Much of this growth can be attributed to the expanding uses to which toll-free numbers are applied (e.g., for calling cards, nationwide paging, telemarketing campaigns, customer service centers, etc.). The called party, instead of the caller, pays the charges associated with such calls to the telecommunication carrier whose network carried the call.
When a caller in the United States, for example, dials 800-NXX-XXXX or 888-NXX-XXX, the local exchange carrier's central office switch associated with that caller recognizes that the number dialed is a toll-free number. The switch sends a query to a remote centrally-administered database (e.g., the 800 database) to determine which interexchange carrier is the designated carrier for calls to this toll-free number. The 800 database responds to the switch by providing a carrier identifier for the designated interexchange carrier (e.g., the carrier with whom the 800 customer has an account relationship). The switch then routes the call to that carrier for completion. The interexchange carrier translates the dialed toll-free number into the specific NPA-NXX-XXXX destination associated with that toll-free number in a database maintained by the carrier.
In addition to the charges normally associated with telephone calls over a wired network, wireless telephone calls (i.e., calls placed to/from a wireless telephone station) have a component of the cost of the call known as the “airtime” charge for the receiving/sending wireless telephone station. The “airtime” charge is the cost for use of the wireless channel associated with the receiving/sending wireless telephone station. At present, the airtime charge is always billed to the account associated with the wireless telephone station receiving/sending the call, regardless of the character of the destination of the call (800 or 888 number). This is a major factor that deters people from freely accessing toll free numbers from their mobile telephones.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method that permits toll free call providers to optionally pay airtime costs associated with toll-free telephone calls placed from a wireless telephone station to a toll free number managed by the provider. There is also a need for a system and method that allows a user to determine whether a toll-free provider has agreed to pay the costs associated with a toll-free telephone call over a wireless network before agreeing to continue with the call.